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1959 Supreme(MP) 128
IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH (INDORE BENCH)
V.R. Nevaskar and Shiv Dayal Shrivastava, JJ.
Kalu kachru Keer
Vs.
State of M.P.
Cr. A. No. 37 of 1959 (with Death Ref. No. 4 of 1959)
Decided On: 24.04.1959
Important Points
Subject
Criminal Law - Murder
Act Referred
EVIDENCE ACT : S.145
INDIAN PENAL CODE : S.452, S.302
Headnote
CRIMINAL - Murder - Conviction - Evidence - Eye-witness account - Corroboration - Circumstantial evidence - Motive - Recovery of weapon - Absence from work - Conduct of accused - Sentence - Death sentence - Commutation to life imprisonment.
Fact of the Case:
The accused, Kalu, was convicted of murdering Ratansingh by the Sessions Judge, Ujjain, and sentenced to death. The accused appealed against his conviction, and the proceedings for confirmation of the death sentence were also placed before the High Court for consideration.
Finding of the Court:
The High Court found that the eye-witness account of Sajanbai, who saw the accused running away from the scene of the crime, was corroborated by her own conduct in raising cries mentioning the accused as the culprit, that of Pyaribai her sister-in-law and that of the neighbours, Madhosingh, Ramsingh, Laxmikant and Motiram in coming upon the scene on hearing her cries and by her further conduct in complaining to them that it was the accused who had struck the deceased causing him injuries.
Issues: 1. Whether the eye-witness account of Sajanbai was reliable and corroborated. 2. Whether the circumstantial evidence connected the accused with the crime. 3. Whether the sentence of death was appropriate.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The High Court held that the eye-witness account of Sajanbai was reliable and corroborated by her own conduct, that of her sister-in-law and the neighbours, and by the recovery of the stick and sword, the accused's disappearance from Metwas, his approach to Nathu and delivery of sword to him, his going away to Khalkhala, and his asking Hiralal to bring money from Metwas. 2. The High Court held that the circumstantial evidence connected the accused with the crime, including the motive, the nature of the weapon, the place of the body where injuries were caused, and the stealthy manner in which the accused went to the place where the deceased was sleeping at the night time. 3. The High Court held that the sentence of death was appropriate, but commuted it to life imprisonment considering the accused's young age and the fact that the action of stealthily entering the house at midnight and dealing blows with a deadly weapon upon a sleeping man must have been the result more of thoughtlessness and morbid sense of frustration than of anything else.
Final Decision: The appeal was dismissed except as regards the sentence in respect of the offence under Section 302, Indian Penal Code. The sentence of death imposed by the learned Sessions Judge for that offence was set aside and the Appellant its sentenced to undergo life imprisonment instead.
For Appellant/Petitioner/Plaintiff: D.P. Bhargava
For Respondents/Defendant: P.R. Sharma, Govt. Adv. for State
V.R. Nevaskar, J.
Accused Kalu s/o Kachru Keer of Metwas was convicted by the Sessions Judge, Ujjain under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and was sentenced to death. The accused has preferred appeal against his conviction. The proceedings for confirmation of the sentence of death have also been placed before us for consideration. Both the appeal as well as the proceedings for confirmation of the death sentence are being considered together and disposed of by this judgment.
The facts of the case as alleged by the prosecution may be briefly stated as under:
The houses of the accused and deceased Ratansingh were close to each others with an intervening lane belonging to Ratansingh. The accused Kalu lived in his house along with his two brothers and mother Gangabai. The brothers opened a window in their wall on the side of Ratansingh's lane. Ratansingh objected to this and later filed a suit for mandatory injunction for securing closure of the window. This suit succeeded and a decree for injunction as prayed for was granted on 10-10-1958. Ratansingh during the pendency of the suit or even before had agreed to sell his house to Rajaram and had delivered possession of his house to him but no registered deed of sale had been executed and the legal title continued to rest with Ratansingh. After delivery of possession of his house to Rajaram, Ratansingh along with his wife Pyaribai went to reside with his sister Sajanbai who had her house just infront of these two houses. This house had a main door opening into the road which used to be lighted by electric light during the night. Inside Sajanbai's house was an Osari and just behind the Osari was a room and just behind that room there is another room. The wall into which the main door of Sajanbai's house opened was not too high and could be sealed over. On the night intervening 11th and 12th of October 1958 Ratansingh returned from the Mills at Nagda where he was working as a labourer at 11 p.m. He then slept in the Osari. His wife had slept in the adjoining room and Sajanbai had slept at the door of the third apartment just infront of the main door.
Some time after the midnight the accused Kalu secured the entry into the house by scaling the wall of the main door as that door had been latched from inside. He carried with him a sword then. He went to the Osari where Ratansingh was sleeping and gave him blows with weapon carried by him. While giving one of the blows the weapon struck the roof of the Osari causing noise. This awakened Sajanbai. She saw the accused standing near the bed of Ratansingh in the light of a lamp burning nearby. She cried out. The accused thereupon hurried out after opening the main door. Sajanbai got up and closely followed him. She found her brother injured and bleeding. She came to the door and raised cries naming the accused Kalu as the assailant who had killed her brother Ratansingh. She also again identified the accused while he was escaping in the electric light from the electric poles on the road. Pyaribai also woke up and saw somebody running but as she was somewhat late in getting up she could not identify the absconder. Sajanbai's cries brought a neighbour Madhosingh on the spot. To him she told the name of Kalu as the assailant. Another person in the locality Motiram also woke up on hearing Sajanbai's cries. He also went to the spot and found Ratansingh lying injured on his cot.
The first information report was lodged at the Police Station, Nagda at 2-30 a.m. the same night by Madhosingh, who along with several other persons of the village including Laxmikant, Motiram, Dewa, Lalsingh had taken the injured Ratansingh to the police station on a cot. The police sent him to the hospital for treatment. He however died in the hospital on 12-10-1958 at 8 a.m. Head Constable Bhagwatsingh went to the spot. He commenced investigation into the matter. A stick was found on the roof of Sajanbai's house. This it was believed must have been used for climbin
